The Nigerian Senate has declared a national emergency following the collapse of the Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX), which reportedly defrauded citizens of over ₦1.3 trillion. During Tuesday’s plenary session, lawmakers condemned the scale of the fraud and initiated a comprehensive investigation into the matter. The Senate emphasized that the CBEX debacle represents one of the most devastating financial scams in the country’s history, with devastating consequences for countless Nigerian families.
Senator Adetokunbo Abiru, who moved the motion, revealed that the CBEX scheme operated as a digital Ponzi investment, collecting funds from unsuspecting members of the public before suddenly crashing in March 2024. He noted that the operators had used social media and influencers to lure investors, promising unrealistic returns. According to him, the platform took advantage of regulatory gaps in the financial and digital asset space to operate unchecked.
Several senators expressed deep concern over the incident, pointing out that the lack of timely intervention by key regulatory bodies—including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)—allowed the fraud to thrive. Senator Mohammed Monguno emphasized the psychological toll on victims, stating that many investors had been driven into depression and some even to suicide.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio described the incident as a national disgrace, recounting his personal experience as a victim of a similar scheme in the 1990s. He stressed that urgent action is required to restore public trust in financial systems and prevent future occurrences. Akpabio called for public hearings and national campaigns on financial literacy to educate Nigerians about fraudulent investment schemes.
To address the crisis, the Senate constituted a joint committee made up of the Committees on Capital Markets, Banking and Other Financial Institutions, ICT and Cybersecurity, as well as the Committee on National Security and Intelligence. The committee has been tasked with investigating the CBEX collapse and other similar scams, and is expected to submit its findings within four weeks.
